Earlier, several Wingfields held offices of state during the reign of King Henry VIII and were named in the King's Suite at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

Wingfield was also present at Cysoing, where the regimental bugles were hastily buried on the night of May 10 1940 following news of the major German offensive against the Low Countries; the bugles were never recovered.

Wingfield was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1953 and served for many years as a JP, becoming chairman of the Mid-Shropshire Bench.

The court is somewhat similar to a real tennis court in shape, but is smaller (about 78 feet by 27 feet) and different in construction.

It either derives from SphairistikÃ¨ ( Greek for "playing ball"), the term originally given to lawn tennis by WalterCloptonWingfield, or from a Major-General Sticke, a French Canadian who is credited with inventing the game.

Clopton was Tax Receiver of Putnam, always being regarded as one of her best officers; courteous and kind, but businesslike and efficient at all times.

Clopton lived such a life as to make himself known and loved by as many different people as any man that ever lived in a County, and he wore, and still wears, such a diadem because he lived the beautiful example of real service by sharing his substance and thinking of others!

Clopton, Gene Carlton, The Ancestors and Descendants of William Clopton of York County, Virginia.

Clopton’s book features many additional names to the later, American lines, although entries were frequently accepted with no supporting evidence cited in the book.

Clopton, John Papers, 1629 (1775-1897) 1915, Collection Number 1115, 11,890 items and 26 volumes, is located in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Manuscript Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina and includes: Family correspondence and miscellaneous papers of four generations of the Clopton family and three generations of the Wallace family.

It was not until the late nineteenth century that the game, in a somewhat different form, began to take on popularity in Britain with the advent of lawn tennis.

Major WalterCloptonWingfield, in search of a more vigorous game than croquet for the leisure classes, devised an activity that was a hybrid of badminton and court tennis (which had existed for centuries).

For instance, Wingfield's rules called for the game to be played on a court the shape of an hourglass.

www.smashsportsbetting.com /history (619 words)

Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, 1997 Enshrinee: International Tennis Hall of Fame(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)

main WalterCloptonWingfield, in look for of a more energetic game than croquet for the free time classes, devise an action that was a cross of badminton and court tennis (which had exist for centuries).

Wingfield original his game in 1874 and a belongings was made on hand for sale.

For instance, Wingfield's system called for the game to be played on a court the outline of an hourglass and that is now called the Master de Tennis Tournement.

In December 1873, Major WalterCloptonWingfield devised a similar game for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate at Nantclwyd, Wales.

He based the game on the older sport of indoor tennis or real tennis ("royal tennis"), which had been invented in 12th century France and was played by French aristocrats down to the time of the French Revolution.

Tennis comes from the French tenez, the imperative form of the verb tenir, to hold: This was a cry used by the player serving in royal tennis, meaning "I am about to serve!" (rather like the cry "Fore!" in golf).

Although the origins of tennis are not clear, many experts believe tennis, then called lawn tennis, was invented in 1873 by Major WalterCloptonWingfield, a British army officer.

Although Wingfield claimed that he modeled the game, which he called Sphairistiké (Greek for "playing at ball") after an ancient Greek game, many authorities believe that he adapted the principles of the popular English games of court tennis, squash racquets, and badminton for outdoor play.

The game was introduced to Bermuda in 1873, and from Bermuda was brought to the United States by Mary Ewing Outerbridge of Staten Island, New York.

The British Major WalterCloptonWingfield is the father of tennis as we know it.

A colleague of Wingfield's takes the sport from Wales to the Bermudas within a few weeks of its appearance.

A certain Miss Outerbridge of Steiten Island, New York spends her holidays in the Bermudas and thanks to her efforts, the first court is built there a week later.

www.sport.gov.gr /7/707/7071/e70711.html (323 words)

Lawn Tennis(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)

In 1858 a rectangular tennis court or playing area had been laid out on a lawn at Edgbaston, Birmingham, and in 1872 a lawn tennis club was established at Leamington Spa.

In 1874 Major WalterCloptonWingfield, formerly of the Royal Dragoon Guards, drew up rules and began marketing sets of equipment, including racquets, balls and a net, for an outdoor form of tennis which he called Spairistike but it soon became nicknamed sticky.

Within a year Wingfield had sold more than a thousand of his tennis sets, over a third of them being bought by the aristocracy.

www.cultural-resources.co.uk /4res/30sp.html (498 words)

Little Dreams Foundation(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)

Modern tennis developed from the French game of "jeu de paume", the rules of which were laid down in Paris in 1592.

The English Major WalterCloptonWingfield drew inspiration from the game and, on 23 February 1874, patented a game for which 25 rules were defined in May 1875.

The first championship was held on the courts of Wimbledon, in the London suburbs, in July 1877.

The game of tennis was invented in 1873 by Major WalterCloptonWingfield in Wales in the British Isles.

It was adopted from the ancient game of court tennis, described by Allison Danzing, an outstanding authority, as "the ultimate of court games," in his book "The Racquet Game".

www.sports.gov.pk /html/tennis.htm (558 words)

L'histoire du tennis(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)

Tennis, at first called"Jeu de Paume", spread over France and England during the XVIth and XVIIth centuries.Kings were so crazy at this game, that HenryXVII had a court installed in his Hampton Court palace.

In 1874, WalterCloptonWingfield (keep this name in mind,because without this brilliant man, you wouldn't be reading these lines, or even have a poster of Anna Kournikova stuck to the wall of your bedroom!!!) created modern tennis out of that royal game.

He himself built a court in his own garden.It was so successful around him, that he decided to introduce it to a committee, with the rules and the equipment.

perso.wanadoo.fr /theparroun/Histoiretennis-gb.html (142 words)

A Condensed History of St. George's Tennis Club(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)

An outdoor version of tennis may have been seen in England as early as 1859, when Harry Gem and J.P. Perera set up and played on a grass court.

Prior to tennis, the stately game of croquet was played primarily by wealthy individuals, but due to Wingfield's marketing efforts and for a more active outdoor sport, tennis quickly replaced croquet.

Lawn tennis is thought to have made it's first appearance in Canada in the Toronto area with the Toronto Tennis Club being formed in either 1875 or 1876.